Get used to it.

Steve Benen notes…

Barack Obama criticized Hillary Clinton by name today. That’s a little unusual.

No, Senator Obama's not following John Edwards by taking Hillary to task over her vote for the next war. Since Barack couldn't be on hand for that one, he's probably best off to avoid highlighting it himself. He's left with the 2002 resolution, which he wasn't eligible to vote for, as fodder to attack Hillary, and attack Hillary he must.

The buzz seems to point toward a Hillary vs. the anti-Hillary showdown over the winter, with the excitement largely coming from the competition for leadership of the anti side, and that's shaping up to be a battle between Edwards and Obama. Expect heightened, and more personalized, rhetoric from here on in, starting with a few rounds of "I'm not her" and evolving into a whirl of "I'm not only not her, but I'm less her than him." Whee.

It's delicate ground to tread in an intra-Party contest, but properly approached it can serve as a sort of polishing grinder that buffs up the eventual victor, regardless of who prevails.

That's my best hope for what's bound to come, anyway.